Frequently Asked Questions

1How is the produce processed?

At Balance of Nature, this is a top priority. Our entire philosophy depends upon this key element. The nutritional value of the produce within the capsules of our Fruits and Veggies® is of utmost importance. Through much study and research, we have discovered the best possible way to get our produce from the earth to your body while losing little, if any, nutritive value. In fact, because of the quality of processes we use, in the end we deliver produce with a higher nutritive value than what you get from the produce you consume from a store.

In 10 simple steps, produce goes from the earth to your doorstep.

Produce is grown without chemicals or GMO’s.

The produce is picked at the peak of ripeness.
Each fruit and vegetable in our blends was scientifically selected and combined to fight prominent lifestyle diseases.

Water is removed from every edible part of the fruits and vegetables.
In this step, every effort is made to avoid heat, air, and light because these are the elements that can oxidize produce. Flash drying is used to remove the water in over 90% of the produce found in Balance of Nature. In this procedure extreme cold facilitates the removal of the water while a vacuum process removes the water and air from within the dark chamber.

The dried produce is sent to an independent laboratory to be tested for aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides, and nutritional content.

Our produce goes through this step whether or not it has been stamped Certified Organic. We want to know for ourselves the produce is clean and high quality. At Balance of Nature, we do not rely upon a stamp of approval. Cleanliness must pass our own, stricter requirements. If it proves high in nutritional content and clear of heavy metals, pesticides, and bacteria, we use it. If not, we reject it. As the various produce arrives at our facility, it is tested on site for color, taste and smell.

This is an important test because phytonutrients are the color, taste, and smell of fruits and vegetables. If Balance of Nature technicians find the dried produce to be beautiful in color, rich in flavor, and clearly smelling of the fruits and vegetables they are, it is accepted for the Balance of Nature proprietary blends. If these properties of color, taste, and smell are not sufficiently present, the produce is below our standards of nutrition and it is rejected.

This top quality produce is ground into extremely fine powder, never reaching a high temperature of friction.

Grinding is an important step in the production of Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies (R). It is about more than getting the produce as concentrated as possible so that it can get into the capsules and into you. When we eat produce, we chew it first to increase surface area and nutritional absorption.

Many nutrients are left behind in the fibrous pulp we swallow. Our bodies absorb what they can from the chunks of food and the rest is used as fiber. That is great—keep doing it. Doctor Howard’s goal in creating Balance of Nature was not meal replacement, but absorption of nutrients that would reach 100%. Pre-mastication, or pre-chewing, increases absorption beyond what is normally possible.

The fine powders are combined into two respective blends of 16 different fruits or 15 different vegetables.

The blended powder is encapsulated into vegetarian capsules without the assistance of flow agents or any other added chemistry.

The capsules are polished, counted, bottled, sealed, and labeled.

The bottles are conveniently shipped to your door.

2How do you get all of that produce into 6 capsules?

When you take the recommended 3 capsule dosage of Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies®, your body receives as much nutrition as it would from eating more than 10 servings of a salad made with 31 different fruits and vegetables.

To make Fruits and Veggies®, the 31 scientifically chosen fruits and vegetables are combined into two separate blends and what is the nutritional equivalent of over 10 servings is encapsulated into 6 capsules (3 fruit capsules, 3 veggie capsules). You are not getting one serving of each and every fruit and vegetable in the product. It is like eating a huge fruit salad and a huge vegetable salad—in total, you are getting over 10 servings of produce.

The Details:

Does that phrase "nutritional equivalence" sound like it could be a trick? It is not a trick. This is how it works:

A balanced recipe. Think of an orange. An orange represents one serving. Once the orange has been flash dried and ground into powder, it will be in the volume of about 1 teaspoon. Everything is there except the water and the air. Perhaps a fraction of this teaspoon would be found in a daily dosage of Fruits. The scientific blend, or recipe, developed by Dr. Howard does not use a full serving of each fruit and vegetable. Through trial and error, research, and experimentation, a precise and balanced combination was discovered. This balance is what gives us the wonderful results we enjoy.

Nutrition locked in. The unique processes we use to remove the water and air from the produce locks in 99.9% of the fresh fruit and vegetable nutrition. For details on these processes see "How is the produce processed?"

Increased surface area. With some of the fruits and vegetables you eat, as little as 5% of the available nutrition will be absorbed because it has not been properly masticated, or chewed. For example, when we eat an apple we chew it; but still, it is swallowed in chunks. To some degree this inhibits the absorption of the nutrients of the apple. Because Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies® capsules contain highly nutritious produce ground into extremely fine powder, the absorption of nutrients is greatly increased. To better understand this concept, consider the scientific concept of Total Surface Area.

Total Surface Area is the amount of surface of the food the body can absorb nutrients from. Think of eating a mint. When you pop it into your mouth and begin sucking, you are pulling flavor from the top surface, the bottom surface, and the side surfaces of that little mint and it is quite tasty. What happens when you bite into it? Now, as you pull flavor from the top, bottom and sides of each and every one of those little pieces you created, the flavor is more intense. Why? Because you are now pulling flavor from an increased surface area.

As you continue to create more tiny pieces by chewing, the flavor continues to get more intense as you create more and more total surface area from which to absorb flavor. Nutritional absorption works in the same way—the more total surface area there is, the more efficiently your body can harvest the wonderful nutrition and use it to make and keep you well. The finely ground produce in Balance of Nature Fruits and Veggies® has far greater Total Surface Area from which to draw nutrition than does produce that has been chewed normally.

Because of these three concepts: A Balanced Recipe, Locked In Nutrition, and Increased Surface Area, it takes less than the quantity equivalence of a piece of produce to get the nutritional equivalence through the Fruits and Veggies® capsules.

3Is this going to interfere with my medication(s)?

Check out our ingredients. Our products contain only whole, real, food. If your doctor says it is okay to have a variety of healthy fruits and vegetables in your diet, you should be able to take Fruits and Veggies® without a problem.

4Can children take Fruits and Veggies®?

Yes. Absolutely, yes! We wish more parents would give them to their children. A child’s quality of nutrition in the first 20 years of life is crucial. It will make a difference in their health now, and for the rest of their lives. Many children don’t like eating whole fruits and vegetables.

Fruits and Veggies® capsules are a great way to get their body accustomed to a balanced variety. Many parents give this to young children by opening the capsules and sprinkling it on their food. Most little kids love the Fruits, but sometimes you need to get creative on how to help your kids eat the veggies. Some examples that have come to us on facebook include: mixing the veggies with a banana or other baby foods, mixing it with tomato sauces, and mixing it with their milk.

Note: If you start giving your child the Veggie capsules as a baby, they will usually eat them without any fuss. It is older children who have not developed a preference for strong vegetable flavor who complain.

5Why do you have soy in your product?

One of the most controversial topics in the world of nutrition is Soy. Some studies say it causes cancers, others say it prevents it. So which one is it? Turns out they are both right. It all depends on how the soy is processed.

Fact: Over 90% of all soy grown in the US is genetically modified and grown with lots of pesticides.

Fact: The reason people started seeing negative side effects of soy was because we started isolating or changing the natural chemistry found in whole soybeans (much like we do with corn. i.e. corn syrup, corn starch, maltodextrin, etc.)

Fact: Cultures that eat a lot of WHOLE soy in their foods, especially foods that are mature or fermented, have some of the lowest cases of cancer and lifestyle diseases.

Fact: There are no studies that have been conducted on whole, unprocessed, natural soybeans that show negative results.

Conclusion: Eat Soybeans. They’re good for you. But don’t mess with it’s natural chemistry and stay away from soy isolates that are put in processed foods.

6Why don’t you have the organic seal on the label?

At Balance of Nature we do everything it takes to produce the very best product. No shortcuts. We go beyond the "USDA Organic" seal. Our products contain produce grown, handled, processed, and certified in a way that meets and exceeds the requirements for using the USDA Organic seal. Balance of Nature chooses not to use this seal on its labels because this seal does not approach Balance of Nature’s philosophies and standards for organic.

What does USDA Organic mean?

So it's organic. Do you know what that means? Do you know the acceptable ingredients and processes? The definition of the word "organic" has been a battle spanning two decades. In 2002 the USDA implemented their National Organic Program. In theory, it seemed like a great idea. Concerning trends soon emerged. In 2005, congress deemed toxic synthetic ingredients acceptable substances in organic foods. In 2006 the USDA stacked the national Organic Standards Board with corporate and special interests. Food bearing the USDA Organic seal no longer needs to be natural food.

Organic has become a multi-billion dollar industry and too many people want in on it. Under the USDA, the term organic has been degraded. This USDA Organic seal of approval has the potential to hinder more than it helps. The deterioration of the term allows unconcerned corporations to cash in on the public's trust of the claim organic. It has become cheaper and easier to market "organic" food that is not organic.

It's time to get skeptical.
A national organic program should have improved organic standards and consumer confidence. Unfortunately, it has people blindly grabbing the organic seal off the shelf. We must do more than trust in large corporations and government to screen our foods for us. We must know where our food is coming from and what exactly is in it.

It is important to understand that this group is not the advocate of strong standards that it claims to be. Saving organic standards depends on each of us taking responsibility for what we buy and eat. Ask questions. Scrutinize food companies. Know where your food comes from and how it is handled. At Balance of Nature we encourage everyone to be an Organic Skeptic. What you put into your body makes a difference. Don’t take the USDA’s word for it. Take time to know where your food comes from and how it is grown and processed.

Our Promise

Balance of Nature will not use a symbol on our labels and marketing material we feel cheapens it. As a company we promise to continue producing the best, authentically organic supplements processed in a way that maintains its integrity.